The Council for New England was a 17th-century English

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America. The Council was established in November of 1620, and was disbanded (although with no apparent changes in land titles) in 1635. It provided for the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, the

State of New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. ...

, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the

New Haven Colony The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history o ...

, and the eventual

State of Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. It was largely the creation of Sir Ferdinand Gorges. Some of the persons involved had previously received a charter in 1606 as the

Plymouth Company The Plymouth Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of America between latitudes 38° and 45° N. History The merchants (wit ...

and had founded the short-lived Popham Colony within the territory of northern Virginia (actually in present-day Maine in the United States). The company had fallen into disuse following the abandonment of the 1607 colony. The Council was re-established after, with support from Gorges, (1)

Captain John Smith John Smith (baptized 6 January 1580 – 21 June 1631) was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first pe ...

had completed a thorough survey of the Atlantic side of New England (and named it such), (2) Richard Vines over-wintered in 1616, off the Maine coast and discovered that a plague was decimating Native Americans and (3) a friendly English speaking local Native American had been placed in the most likely colonization spot. In the new 1620 charter granted by James I, the company was given rights of settlement in the area now designated as New England, which was the land previously part of the Virginia Colony north of the 40th parallel, and extending to the 48th parallel. In 1622 the Plymouth Council issued a land grant to John Mason which ultimately evolved into the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was na ...

.Burrage, Henry S. ''The Beginnings of Colonial Maine, 1602-1658''. Marks Printing House (1914), p. 166-67.

1620 Charter

The Charter of 1620 establishes the wish for English colonization of all land between degrees "34 and 44". The colonial plantation was to found settlements and commerce for Christian peoples and establish trade and commerce between these new colonies and the colonies of George Somers and Thomas Gates ( Virginia Colony). These new colonies were to be managed by Gentry from Plymouth,

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

, and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. These members of the Council were to have, in perpetuity for them and their descendants, rights and privileges extended for the governance and management of trade of the colony. Individuals listed as beneficiaries of the charter include: * Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox * George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham * William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke * Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel * William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling * James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton *

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, (pronunciation uncertain: "Rezley", "Rizely" (archaic), (present-day) and have been suggested; 6 October 1573 – 10 November 1624) was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of So ...

* Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick *

John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness (c. 1580 – January 1626), known as Sir John Ramsay between 1600 and 1606, and as the Viscount of Haddington between 1606 and 1621, was an important Scottish aristocrat of the Jacobean era, best known in ...

* Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche * Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield *

Baron Gorges of Dundalk Baron Gorges of Dundalk was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 13 July 1620 for Sir Edward Gorges, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a baronet, of Langford in the County of Wiltshire, in the Baronetage of England on 25 Nov ...

Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset (c. 158717 July 1645), was a politician, and favourite of King James VI and I. Background Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England, the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr (Carr) of Ferniehurst, Scot ...

* Robert Mansell *

Edward Zouch Sir Edward Zouch of Woking (died 1634) was a courtier to English kings James and Charles I, a masque actor, and Knight Marshal of the King's Household. He was the son of Sir Willam Zouch or Zouche. His mother's name is not known. Career Marriage ...

Dudley Digges Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...

Thomas Roe Sir Thomas Roe ( 1581 – 6 November 1644) was an English diplomat of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Roe's voyages ranged from Central America to India; as ambassador, he represented England in the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire ...

* Ferdinando Gorges * Francis Popham *

John Brooke, 1st Baron Cobham John Brooke, 1st Baron Cobham (15 August 1575 - 1660) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1643. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Brooke was the son of Hon. Henry Br ...

Richard Hawkins Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins (or Hawkyns) (c. 1562 – 17 April 1622) was a 17th-century English seaman, explorer and privateer. He was the son of Admiral Sir John Hawkins. Biography He was from his earlier days familiar with ships and the s ...

* Allen Apsley * Sir Warwick Hale * Sir Richard Catchmay * Sir John Bourchier * Nathaniel Rich * Edward Giles *

Giles Mompesson Giles Mompesson (c. 1583 – 1663) was an English office holder and courtier who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1621, when he was sentenced for corruption. He was officially a "notorious criminal" whose career was based on speculat ...

* Thomas Wroth * Matthew Sutcliffe * Robert Heath * John Drake * Raleigh Gilbert * George Chudley * Thomas Hamon * John Argall The Council would have full legal rights of governance and administration over the colonial plantation. The members of the Council would elect a President to oversee administrative affairs.

1635 revocation

With the establishment of the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony,

Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was an English colony established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop, the Younger, son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ...

, and

, the council was disbanded by Royal Charter.

References

{{Reflist

External links

1620 Charter of New England
from the

Avalon Project The Avalon Project is a digital library of documents relating to law, history and diplomacy. The project is part of the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. The project contains online electronic copies of documents dating back to the be ...

1635 Surrender of the New England Charter
from the Avalon Project History of the Thirteen Colonies History of New England 1620 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies 1635 disestablishments in the Thirteen Colonies Colonial United States (British)